08-04-2022

PRODUCTION: Sebastian Buttny in Postproduction with Polish/Hungarian Drama The Saint

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    The Saint by Sebastian Buttny The Saint by Sebastian Buttny

    WARSAW: Sebastian Buttny is currently in postproduction with his thriller The Saint / Święty, which is set in Poznań in the 80s. The film is a coproduction between Poland and Hungary, and it is due to premiere in the spring of 2023.

    Andrzej Baran, a lieutenant in the Civic Militia, is assigned to the most difficult case he has had to face so far. Nobody seems to want him to solve the mystery.

    “The script delighted me. I hadn't known the director/screenwriter Sebastian Buttny, but the text can be interpreted on several levels and it also has some secrets to it. It was not without significance that the story is set in Poznań, my hometown. I thought Poznań was still undiscovered in terms of film and I could change that. As I am a great advocate of coproductions, I found a Hungarian coproducer quite quickly. Each coproduction is a puzzle. Our postproduction will be carried out in Hungary and the music will be written by a Hungarian composer. The sound crew on the set was from Hungary, as was the equipment with which the camera assistant arrived”, producer Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik exclusively told FNE.

    She is producing through IKH Pictures Production in coproduction with TVP, CETA, the Lower Silesia Film Fund, and László Kántor through Hungarian Mátrix Film. The Wielkopolska Region is a partner in the production of the film. The budget is 1.9 m EUR / 9 m PLN, with 538,985 EUR / 2.5 m PLN of production support from the Polish Film Institute (PISF) and 646,829 EUR / 3 m PLN coproduction input from TVP.

    The cast of popular Polish actors includes Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Lena Góra, Dobromir Dymecki and Leszek Lichota. The shoot wrapped on 11 February 2022.

    “We shot the film in 30 days in Gniezno and Poznań. The residents of Poznań may be surprised to see the well-known locations that we have transformed completely, e.g. the Arena is played at our airport. We took almost a week of shooting in Kiekrz in a former militia centre from the 1980s, which is one of my beloved locations, where time has stood still. However, the most characteristic location in the film is the Gniezno Cathedral. Primate Wojciech Polak, who got acquainted with the script and took patronage over the film, made the cathedral available for photography for the first time in history. This meant that the cathedral was closed to the faithful, and the mass and all ceremonies were transferred to another church. The scale of this project was very large, the permanent film crew consisted of about 100 people, and several hundred extras participated in the collective scenes. The Curia was very helpful and understanding. We shot in really difficult weather conditions, but the team was very brave”, Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik also said..

    Production Information:
    Producer:
    IKH Pictures Production (Poland)
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    Coproducers:
    TVP (Poland)
    CETA (Poland)
    Lower Silesia Film Fund (Poland)
    Mátrix Film (Hungary)

    Credits:
    Director: Sebastian Buttny
    Screenwriter: Sebastian Buttny
    DoP: Łukasz Gutt
    Cast: Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Lena Góra, Dobromir Dymecki, Leszek Lichota